UK Euro

There is nothing new in saying that if the Eurozone is to succeed its members will have to surrender more financial independence. Everyone knows that. Until they do, however, its future will remain uncertain and those who invest in it will be taking a gamble. So, for the time being "chips", I think, will have to do.

One thing is clear, that Alexis Tspiras must stand firm in sweeping waters and against the rising tide. Historians will often say that European man is Greek in provenance. As citizens of Europe we know that Syriza is making decisions in constrained space and time, and that they should be proud -- whatever the outcome -- that they have sought to represent a demographic that extends beyond Greece and touches the heart of Europe.

The EU is teetering on the brink of Grexit as the two sides continue to play a momentous game of chicken. On Sunday, Greeks will be voting in their referendum on whether or not to accept the conditions the EU and IMF have put on giving the country another bailout - and the polls are so finely balanced it's too close to call.

I deeply believe in Greece inside Europe of democracy, of altruism, of common institutions and firm relationships. Greece and its bond with Euro was born of respect and faith and by no means should it die of arrogance.

What kind of system have we created where our elite inflict austerity on ordinary people that causes misery and suffering to millions, while financiers and gamblers of financial markets enjoy such a bonanza of riches? The mind boggles.

We should look to the biggest economic of recent events to find our answer. The 2008 crash and following recession is still shaping the economic situation across Europe. The Euro is struggling against the sterling, so does that mean we made the right choice?

Greece's Alexis Tsipras has embarked on a European tour to win support for his economic agenda. European leaders should engage constructively with his proposals. There are many good economic arguments for Tsipras plans but the main reason to make concessions to Greece is a lesson from the politics of the Great Depression.

How Aeschylus would have loved it. No, not the details of course - quantitative easing was not really a hot topic in ancient Athens-but the sheer inevitability, the procession of cause and effect which has led to the debt crisis in Greece...

This time round, with elections due on Sunday, the popularity of the anti-austerity party, Syriza, is greater but the market atmosphere is calmer, helped by the ECB's long awaited announcement on Thursday that it would commence a programme of quantitative easing designed to boost demand.

In Greece people are very worried and voice strong concerns over who they should vote for on election day (25 January). At least 15% of Greeks remain undecided and this hiatus will remain until the last minute.

The economic dangers associated with the introduction of the Euro were predictable - and indeed predicted by many. Yet political leaders at the time chose to make a grand and hubristic political statement irrespective of the devastation it could bring to their citizens. The Euro is, maybe, the best example of the consequences of a political and policy elite living in their own world and totally divorced from the consequences of their actions on ordinary people.

Europe will not strongly recover in the course of 2014. It would require many reforms at national and European level, which are not (yet) feasible. For the moment, Europe will have to make do with a patchwork of stopgaps, which is adjusted gradually, in incremental steps.

In a press release dated February the 19th addressing the so-called "single resolution mechanism" to be decided by the European institutions, the Council of the European Union stated, in what is perceived as a negotiation declaration towards the European Parliament, there was agreement between the partners that: "bail-in and not bail-out is the main guiding principle for bank resolution."